Attorneys/Judges
| Prosecutor(s): | Suzanne Renaud | | Defense(s): | Michael Brothers |
Goose kicked to death
Attleboro, MA (US)Incident Date: Sunday, Jul 17, 2011
County: Bristol
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Shawn S. Timas
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
An 18-year-old man is accused of killing a goose outside an apartment complex off Maple Street in a senseless attack in which police say the suspect and two younger friends laughed as the bird twitched and flopped on the ground before dying.
Shawn S. Timas, 18, of 60 Brookhaven Drive in Attleboro, was ordered held in jail on $500 cash bail after arraignment Monday in Attleboro District Court.
Timas, according to authorities, admitted to kicking the goose during the incident outside 80 Brookhaven Drive just before 4:30 p.m. Sunday.
Timas claims he did so in self-defense after the goose bit him on the leg. However, police say Timas had no marks on his leg and witnesses contradicted his claim.
Timas pleaded innocent to animal cruelty, being a disorderly person, giving police a false name and obstruction of justice. Police allege Timas gave another name and age after his arrest.
His 15-year-old friends, whose names were not released, were not charged.
Assistant District Attorney Suzanne Renaud sought bail on Timas, noting the "callousness of laughing at the goose as it was lying on the ground dying."
She also sought unsuccessfully to have him held in jail without bail by asking a judge to revoke bail set in a previous assault and battery case in Brockton District Court.
His lawyer, Michael Brothers, did not address the allegations against his client. But in arguing for his client to be released on his own recognizance, Brothers described his client as a budding college student who was accepted at the University of Rhode Island in South Kingston.
Police were dispatched to the apartment complex after witnesses say they saw three teenagers chasing a goose and that one of them threw something at it before it fell to the ground and flopped around.
The teens were watching and laughing before one of the residents opened her door and they ran off, police said.
The teenagers were located near the area by police but nothing that might have been thrown at the goose was found.
Timas was charged after an investigation by officers Richard Berube, Karl Williams and Sgt. James MacDonald. Lt. James Keane and officers Gilbert Bechtel and Stephen Graney assisted.
The Attleboro Animal Control Department responded to the scene and took the dead goose. An animal control officer confirmed the goose died as a result of its injuries. Massachusetts Environmental Police were notified of the incident.
It is not the first time that youths have targeted geese in the area.
In June 2010, a group of four males in their late teens threw a rock that apparently broke the neck of an adult Canada goose. No one was ever caught or charged with that incident.
However, a 2005 incident resulted in charges against a then 33-year-old contract worker for Texas Instruments who stomped five goslings to death and fatally injured a mother goose. The North Kingstown, R.I., resident lost his job, was placed on probation for two years and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service after admitting to the incident in Attleboro District Court.
That case generated a media storm, with reports of the incident appearing in newspapers and television and radio newscasts as far away as California, Minnesota and Kentucky.
Case UpdatesA University of Rhode Island spokesman has rejected claims by an Attleboro teenager charged with killing a goose that he's been accepted to the school.
Shawn Timas, 18, has pleaded not guilty to animal cruelty, being disorderly, giving police a false name and obstruction of justice for allegedly kicking the goose last weekend and laughing as he and two friends watched it die.
Timas' lawyer asked at the arraignment that his client be released on personal recognizance because he has been accepted to URI.
But URI spokesman Dave Lavallee told The Sun Chronicle that he checked school records and Timas has not been admitted to the school in the fall, and has never been a student there.
Timas claimed the goose bit him first. He's free on $500 bail. | Source: .thebostonchannel.com - Jul 21, 2011
Update posted on Jul 22, 2011 - 7:51PM |
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